Nero
Nero (ネロ, Nero) is a natural Shinkūmyō, a former Blank who has chained together his memories and energy, gaining an array of mysterious powers. The transformation, however, left him disoriented, causing him to disappear from the world. When he resurfaced, he tried to enter the Soul Society and live in the Rukongai along with the other souls. This however, lasted only shortly due an "accident" concerning him and the Gotei 13, causing Nero to be expelled from the Soul Society and being marked as a criminal. He has recently taken up the work of assassin for hire, taking up the moniker Saire (サイレント, The Whisperer), in a reference to his quick and silent method of killing. His affiliations are still unclear, but he seems to hold ties all across the different planes, possibly due his space/time related abilities. Appearance Nero's appearance is quite mysterious, being wrapped up in brown, dusty robes almost totally. The lower half of his face is also covered with a mask, and he often wears a cap to conceal the rest of his face. When these are removed, it is revealed that light silver markings stretch down from his cheek until his neck, a trace he holds from his transformation. He has relatively short, black hair and golden eyes. He keeps his zanpakutō, in the shape of a wakizashi, hidden beneath his robes, and can pull it out of his sleeve when necessary. Personality Nero's personality is quite mysterious, as he isn't one to reveal much about his thoughts or feelings. He has held some characteristics of his former life as a Blank, being very quiet and introvert when amongst other people. Despite this, he has shown to be quit strategic, noticing tiny details most people classify as unimportant and formulating battle plans and strategies out of those. He rarely shows his feelings, and thinks speaking is an unnecessary act unless there's an important reason to it. Nero seems to be quite aloof and indifferent about the feelings and emotions of other people, shown when someone questioned him how he could kill people he didn't know anything about, and he simply responded that it was "part of his job". History Powers & Abilities Massive Spiritual Power: Nero's spiritual power is different from others in a way that it is not really as vast or overwhelming in range as others, but unusually dense. Most Shinigami who come close to him experience an enormous weight on them, and can suffocate or even collapse and fade away depending on the amount of reiatsu they possess themselves. The outburst of releasing his spiritual power was enough to break a high-level Bakudo spell binding him and blow away the Shinigami who where standing around him. In reference to his past Blank state, his reiatsu is a pure white in color when released. His spiritual power is enough to evaporate hundred of Blanks who were near him during the moment of his transformation. *'Mezame' (目覚め, Awakening): A power Nero claims that is exclusive to the natural Shinkūmyō. Using their spiritual energy to identify a similar being, the user can draw out the repressed being within a nearby Nurturing Shinkūmyō. This results in a transformation where the victim is taken over by their repressed self, allowing the user to interact with it. Even if the victim has defeated his repressed self, they will still suffer from this technique, though some are able to eventually regain control if they possess enough power. Unarikyo Master: Repeatedly, Nero has shown the ability to suddenly appear next to opponents, leaving an afterimage behind that's so life-like the opponent commonly doesn't note Nero has moved. The power emitted from his speed is so gigantic that he's able to create a crater in the concrete when he sets off. His speed is enough to outmaneuver several captains and make them lose track of his spiritual signature. He was able to cut down an approaching lieutenant with a flick of his sword, despite the latter being hundreds of meters away. Expert Jikan: Out of all Shinkūmyō to have appeared, Nero is the one to have utilized Jikan the most. He can use it even to let attacks pass through him without doing any harm, although there is a time window between each use where he can be struck. He has shown a unique way of killing through Jikan, pushing his intangible hand into the chest of an opponent and crushing his heart before they can counteract. He could attend a meeting of captains, standing in the same room as them without being noticed at all. Master Swordsmanship Specialist: even though he has little to no official training, Nero's expertise in sword fighting is in the same league as many other powerful opponents, shown when he was able to fend off several released captain-level opponents during his conflict in the Soul Society. His fighting style consists of quick, accurate strikes, to which an observer noted that "there wasn't a single movement wasted". Mekura: Nero has shown the ability to fire a large, dense Mekura from the tip of his fingers, which is powerful enough to blast through several houses and still do enough damage to knock out a lieutenant-level combatant. His Mekura is jet-black in color, in contrast to the color of his spiritual pressure. Nero's opponent commented that it was much unlike a Hollow's Cero, being "on an entire new level". Possibly due his innate space/time manipulating techniques, Nero can also form a Mekura on any other point within his spiritual aura, not limiting his reach to his own body. However, this Mekura takes a longer time to charge than his regular one. *'Mekura Taigōtei' (盲大悟彻底, ignorance of the absolute truth): Nero draws a circle in the air with his fingertip, leaving behind a trail of black spiritual energy. When the circle is completed, an enormous blast erupts from it, in size and force comparable to an Espada's Gran Rey Cero. It is enough to deal a fatal blow to a captain's Shikai and blow away the surrounding buildings. Zanpakutō Wārudo (ワールド, All Under Heaven) is the name of Nero's zanpakutō. In it's sealed form, it takes the form of a wakizashi, sporting a purple hilt in a diamond design. Despite it's size, Nero has shown capable enough to defeat wielders of longer blades easily with it, leading them into close combat where their large-sized swords hinder them from fighting properly. He keeps it in a black sheath on his left hip. The blade has an engraving on it which spells "人をおそれ従わせる力" (Hito o osore shitagawa seru chikara; literally "the power to compel people to do one's bidding through fear"). .]] *'Rin'ne': The release command is Cut Down (切り取る, kiritoru). Nero's release is accompanied with a immense outburst of reiatsu, proceeded by the revealing of Nero's new, mysterious appearance. Nero's face gains some dog-like features in this state, along with a Prussian blue crescent moon on his forehead. He also has two red markings on each cheek and on the sides of his wrists as well as one red stripe on each of his eye lids. His hair grows, reaching almost to his waist, and turns into a silver-white color as opposed to the normal black. His attire changes to that a blank white kimono and nothing else, which is a reference to his former Blank appearance. Like all Shinkūmyō in their released states, he dons white tuffs of fur around his neck. :Rin'ne Special Abilities: Nero's power in his released state is the manipulation of spacetime. However, his powers go further than ordinary portal creating or slowing down time, actually being able to warp reality to an extent and influence the other, physical dimensions through the one of spacetime. He can create isolated spaces which he can switch out with other spaces, even within other dimensional planes or mysterious environments such as his inner world. Nero's release is also accompanied by a great increase in speed, strength and spiritual power. :*'Soreinushi' (祖霊主, Ancestral Spirit God): This allows Nero to isolate a specific point in spacetime, and switch it with another point within any dimension he sees fit. He can use this to displace attacks and even redirect the course of approaching opponents, although the distance the object travels is proportional with the amount of time needed beforehand. Using this technique, Nero has shown the unique ability to move zanpakutō spirits of others into his own Inner World, where he then begins to subdue and eventually master them. This variation, however, requires days of preparation and meditation to amass the spiritual power required, making it quite unusable in general battle. :::Sumeragi: (皇孫, Imperial Sun Child); A zanpakutō spirit Nero assimilated during an encounter with an unnamed shinigami, it has the powers to create massive amounts of fire aswell as manipulating already-existing flames. He has shown a variety of attacks, including shooting columns of fire which can wreck entire city blocks, firing small fireballs aswell as creating walls of fire to block incoming attacks. Sumeragi's greatest attack is composed of creating a giant, sun-like sphere of fire and hurl it at the opponent, the explosion occurring great enough to greatly damage Bankai-released opponents. However, Nero mostly uses these powers for destructive purposes, but still hasn't fully mastered the techniques. :*'Koritsūgata' (孤立姿, State of Isolation) is an ability that allows Nero to "isolate" objects from space and time, cutting them off from any influences of the outside world. He can use this ability in many ways, although he primarily uses it to halt attacks or defend himself, cutting himself off from any ill effects on his person. Through this, Nero has also been shown capable of segregating his powers, consciousness and his emotions, using the resulting focus to dramatically increase his speed, precision, reflexes and power. When used on an opponent, it can completely isolate them from their zanpakutō or the outside world, essentially preventing them to commit any interaction at all with another object. :*'Ichinenō' (一念, Time of a Single Thought); The first of Nero's time-related abilities, it allows him to create a barrier which transfers anything that passes through it into "a future state". He first used this in the battle with the unnamed Shinigami who possessed Sumeragi, where the barrier created converted the massive fireball into nothing more than a column of smoke. This also works on living targets, but cannot age them to the point of dying, like Baraggan Luisenbarn's Arrogante could, because this would cost Nero to much spiritual energy. It can however, age them for an extended period, weakening their health and overall battle performance. Quotes Trivia Category:Characters